I am hard pressed to remember the last time it was my pleasure to live through such a benign August, but I have no plans to look this gift horse in the mouth. Tomorrow is Buck’s birthday; this terrace will my contribution to the celebration. They have to be the best they have ever been-although Buck says I tell him this every year.

I like the fireworks going-on feeling of my terrace pots this year. Most of that has to do with how they have grown. I picked the colors and plants yes, but nature has proved unusually cooperative. We have had cool temperatures all summer, and now, regular rain. The usual bugs and disease must be at someone else’s house.

The Mital terra cotta gargoyle pots on their pedestals have never looked so rowdy and profuse. I grow nicotiana mutabilis every year for exactly the reason you see here. The showy oregano in this pot gave up and died, but I hardly notice. Besides, this pair of pots started out mismatched-I like that they will end up mismatched.

Variegated licorice has thick felty leaves and stiff stems, but it will dance through a pot in a lively way. It is a welcome contrast to the mounds of begonias and purple oxalis. Plant habit can be as important a part of design as color and shape.

These two licorice plants have made a flared skirt of themselves. The shape is especially attractive with the garland pattern on the pot. Did I plan this part-absolutely not. Anyone who gardens gets to enjoy the unexpected.

The New Guinea impatiens this year are unbelievably gaudy-what fun. Even my million bells, which usually sulk as I have very alkaline water, are cooperating. My dahlias do not have mites or mildew. The cool weather has slowed the flower production on the cannas, but the foliage alone is well worth having.

Thriving and saucy-this is how I would describe my pots. As Buck has to cook his own birthday dinner, I am glad these pots look how they do. It is a whomping lot of work to look after all this every day, but every day I am glad to get home and see what’s doing. I like being ready for a party, every day.

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About the Author

Deborah Silver is a landscape and garden designer whose firm, Deborah Silver and Co Inc, opened its doors in 1986. She opened Detroit Garden Works, a retail store devoted to fine and unusual garden ornament and specialty plants, in 1996. In 2004, she opened the Branch studio, a subsidiary of the landscape company which designs and manufactures garden ornament in a variety of media. Though her formal education is in English literature and biology, she worked as a fine artist in watercolor and pastel from 1972-1983. A job in a nursery, to help support herself as an artist in the early 80’s evolved into a career in landscape and garden design. Her landscape design and installation projects combine a thorough knowledge of horticulture with an artist’s eye for design. Her three companies provide a wide range of products and services to the serious gardener. She has been writing this journal style blog since April of 2009.